Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic site

Police believe an in a single day fireplace in Wyoming that broken a constructing being renovated to accommodate a brand new abortion clinic was intentionally set

By

MEAD GRUVER Related Press

Could 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min learn

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was damaged in a fireplace early Wednesday that police imagine was deliberately set — possibly by someone seen running away from the constructing carrying what seemed to be a fuel can and a bag.

The blaze broken the inside of the constructing beneath renovation to accommodate the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest metropolis in a state where opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which additionally planned to offer different health care providers for ladies, had been set to open in June as solely the second place within the state to offer abortions. Wyoming’s current lone location for women to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

A person who referred to as authorities before daybreak noticed somebody operating from the building with what seemed to be a gas can and a black bag, police mentioned in a Facebook post. Investigators were reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of identifying the suspect or generating a suspect description, police stated. No injuries had been reported.

Julie Burkhart, the clinic’s director, stated clinic organizers had been receiving harassing emails and telephone messages. The building had video cameras that had been functioning, and police got entry to them, she stated.

“Whether or not you’re against abortion or assist abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” said Burkhart, a former associate of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion supplier who was shot and killed in a Wichita, Kansas, church in 2009.

Protests have been held this spring by abortion opponents on the future clinic website, and signs opposing abortion had been visible Wednesday in a window of an house subsequent door to the constructing.

Wyoming is considered one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger legislation that may instantly outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade choice that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that can happen quickly.

Police briefly closed off the street the place the small constructing is located as officers investigated. Several of the constructing's windows were damaged, and smoke harm was visible round one shattered window.